Concerning Best Offer Bids !

in my browsing I saw where a coin dealer on ebay had some covers for best offer including an early airmail Holland to the Dutch Indies...he asked 19.00 or BEST OFFER...my wife who is braver than I am said offer him eight dollars...i said no,i want a chance to get it...i offered 9 dollars and he accepted...i guess the moral of the story is...don't be too shy on best offers...the most they can say is no !

The moral of the story is " Listen to your wife "

a friend is someone you would kill if you didn't know him !

If I listened to my wife, I wouldn't be collecting stamps !

I have NEVER had an offer accepted. Even asking for a tiny reduction get's a rebuke, sometimes a nasty one.
I no longer make offers....not worth it.

Londonbus1

I have won several "best offer" items by offering a reasonable compromise bid. If the seller wants $10 for an item; depending on how badly I want the item and its catalog value, I will offer something in the $6 to $8 range. Sometimes I get a counteroffer, but more often than not, an acceptance. If you offer too low an amount, say <50%, I think you are usually inviting rejection. I really like this option and much prefer it over the non-negotiable BIN option.

My last offer was on Delcampe where I offerd $10 for a $12 BIN item. I got a rather rude reply.

That was one of many very small reduction offers.
It was also the last.

I am only human after all.

I make low offers frequently. If they say no they may also give you another offer and you have 3 try's. If no-one accepts then no harm - no foul. Hey you never know if you don't ask right?

I've tried a couple of best offer bids a couple of times with no luck. I also look to see if they have multiple items in stock thinking that they might be more likely to accept an offer.

I am also one who has never had an offer accepted.

i can't speak for anyone else..but I have not had a rude reply to making an offer..mind you I am not going to outright insult the seller..like offering 90 thousand dollars for a 300 thousand dollar house...but I assume these guys are in business to make a living and not clowns that are going to be rude to a potential buyer !

Maybe the response depends on whether someone is selling to make a living or something they just do on the side.

The response depends on the dealer, I personally accept 99% of offers, I think in my 10 years on ebay I said no way Jose Once to a 50c -$1.00 on an item, counteroffered twice, one was accepted. depeand on the dealer, phase of the moon, alightment of the planets, time of day....who knows

As stated TWICE above, I have only ever been courteous and pleasant and my offers were only a slightly less than the BIN. The sellers are often greedy and either don't know what a best offer is or are just expecting to take 50c off a $50 item.

Bullcrap.

Offering $10 on a $12 BIN or $5 on a $6 BIN is nice to the point of being embarrassing. A non-acceptance of offers like that show me that there are many sellers who are just playing games and like to think that refusing is showing they are in charge.

On one of those offers above, I was belittled by a crass ignorant jerk who thought it was a game.

I do not need this rubbish in my hobby and will NEVER choose that route again.

stay sane, stay normal.

Londonbus1.....I have a $5 item which I will not sell for less than $4.99...any takers !?

Most of my sales are Buy it now / best offer accepted and on a few occasions have had the wise guy offer $3 on a $30 item.
I simply reject the offer and say nothing as I feel there is nothing wrong with trying to get it at a huge discount, never know if you don't try ?

i was the buyer..the seller was asking 19 dollars for something I was willing to spend 9 dollars on...within minutes of my paypal payment I received a positive feedback from the seller...he seemed quite satisfied with the 9 dollars !!